Disney World. October 2021. Day 1. Here we go!
Today was interesting.
I feel like usually there are just ridiculous things that happen on day 1, but today seemed just to move. We went from place to place, and it was stressful, but there was nothing overtly bad that happened. It could be because we were 5 adults handling two children, so we should be able to handle ourselves, right?
Anyway, we got up this morning and our car showed up at 9. The guy showed up in a Honda Odyssey and I got all nervous that he wasn’t able to fit everything, so we told my parents to stop by our house first. We ended up fitting everything with room to spare. We did leave 20 minutes late though. Anyway, we headed to the airport and checked in curbside. The guy didn’t even weigh our luggage. We knew we were underweight, but it was still interesting. Maybe we should always do curbside. Check in was easy, as was security. We got coffee and bagels and headed to the gate when it was time to board. Smooth boarding, and we only left about 20 minutes late.
The flight was relatively okay, it’s just that Madeleine is at an age where she won’t sit. Thankfully this time we had 5 adults to pass her between. Hallie watched Peppa Pig the entire time, so that was good. We landed and got off the plane, and then left Tzvi at the exit of the plane to wait for the stroller to be brought up. He had to wait a ridiculously long time and almost got into a fight with a woman, but everything ended up ok.
Walking through the airport felt like we never left. We headed to the train to baggage claim and saw the 50th anniversary décor. Very exciting! At baggage claim a man was waiting for us with a sign that said Sheldon Feit. We had to wait a while for the luggage, and then it was pouring rain when we got outside. The driver had been prearranged with the hotel and he brought a Mercedes Sprinter Van. Thankfully Madeleine fell right asleep, and the ride was about 40 minutes.
Pulling up to the hotel was magical. Check in was easy. I tried to talk to the Disney desk and figure out Genie plus (more on that and the new ride booking process tomorrow), but everyone has different things to say. It’s all confusing and made more complicated by the fact that the Four Seasons is a Disney hotel but not actually owned by Disney completely.
We have three rooms, all next to each other. We connect with Hallie, Madeleine and Robyn. Robyn bathed the girls and we all rushed to get ready. We had a 6:15 reservation at the Boathouse at Disney Springs, which I thought was 6:30. Thankfully we made it on time. It was pouring rain again as we drove to Disney Springs, but once we got there it stopped raining.
Dinner was fine but too long. The restaurant itself was huge and very nice, but the food just took so long. I had a Caesar Salad with Salmon. Tzvi had a half of a head of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing and some tomatoes, and a mahi sandwich with fries. He also had a beer. Madeleine was a little nuts, but who isn’t.
After that we walked around Disney Springs. We stopped by Gideons Bakehouse and got on the virtual queue, which was 2 hours and 40 minutes long (that’s right, 2 hours and 40 minutes to go inside and buy a cookie). The guy I gave my name to was from Valley Stream and he said he would cut the wait to 2 hours because I was from Long Island. Problem was there was no way we were waiting that long. We’ll go back another day. We did, however, go to Ghirardelli for ice cream! Tzvi and I shared a Brownie Sundae. It was delicious. Hallie had cookies and cream in a cone. It was so late, but everyone was in a good mood.
It started raining again, but thankfully we were eating our ice cream under an awning. From there we walked to the soap store, but only bought Hallie some bath bombs. Then we Ubered home, which isn’t so easy now that there are only 2 Uber drop offs at Disney Springs and you have to walk really far to get to either one. Madeleine was so happy on the way home and was singing and dancing. It was hilarious. We got home and the girls went right to sleep, but it was so late.
Good day. Glad to be back.
